Some Things Even She Didn't Know
by DarkHeart89
Summary: "Oh look, better get some sleep for tomorrow's challenge! Not like Jo's snoring is going to get any better." She laughed nervously, darting off with her back facing him. "Hope your legs get better!" She called heartily, Alejandro watching her disappear back into the girl's side of the cabin, the door slamming shut in her wake. / Prompt, Pain for AleHeather week. Posted at Midnight.


Some Things Even She Didn't Know

Summary: "Oh look, better get some sleep for tomorrow's challenge! Not like Jo's snoring is going to get any better." She laughed nervously, darting off with her back facing him. "Hope your legs get better!" She called heartily, Alejandro watching her disappear back into the girl's side of the cabin, the door slamming shut in her wake.

Rating: T

Pairing: AleHeather for AleHeather week under the Prompt of 'Pain'.

AN: Just a one-shot I thought after September 17th's episode of Total Drama. Woo.

~Nat

[OoOoOoO]

Jo's snoring was insufferable and impossible to tolerate. Heather had lived with a sister with sleep apnea, but this was even worse. It was like her rather masculine teammate had a blow horn permanently stapled into her head. It was ridiculous.

Heather chucked her pillow at the girl's head with a groan and threw the sheets off her bed, slipping her feet in her slippers and stalking out the door to lean against the rickety rail of the disgusting cabin.

Thanks to Lightning [who'd thankfully been booted off tonight], they lost the challenge and Heather had lost her lap of luxury. Not to mention the fact that Alejandro had hogged the masseuse to make the circulation in his legs get a kick start. He had started to become a liability and as much as Heather hated to say it, she didn't want to see him go so soon.

Despite her protests, she did feel for Alejandro. She hadn't forgotten about him in the past year. She'd worried and worried, his family hadn't heard back from him [she'd even deal with dreaded Jose to find out] and she had attempted to get ahold of him on the phone number he'd given her, she'd even accessed a Facebook account of him, but all of those attempts had been in vain.

She'd never been able to reach him. Then again, she'd doubt there was a great amount of reception in that metal trap he'd been in for the past three hundred sixty-five days.

A twinge of satisfaction had built in her abdomen after hearing his explanation, his tone nearly as annoyed as she had been. It had been as if he'd **wanted** to keep in contact with her. Then again, he'd gone full love declaration on her in Hawaii; it didn't surprise her if he had some feelings buried in there. He **had** had a lot of time to think about their relationship in his imprisonment.

Nevertheless, Heather just had to figure out some way to help him. She owed him that much and probably a lot more.

Her head turned up to look up at the rows of constellations, faintly trying to name them but no avail. She'd never been a pro at astronomy. She'd been better at winning arguments, though she'd never had the work ethic to bother with Law school. That was such a Courtney thing it sickened her.

Heather scowled, shaking her head and stopped in her tracks, anger flaring almost immediately. If her eyes weren't defying her, she could blatantly see the outline of Alejandro standing [easily she may add] out on the dock, skipping rocks.

She squinted her eyes and threw her arms down in outrage and immediately began stomping over to his location; observing how the muscles in his back tensed as he grew aware of her bumbling footsteps and the fact that he had indeed been caught.

He even made the mistake of turning around without even attempting to cover his tracks, his ankles and knees seeming as sturdy as the last sane day she'd been on terms with him had been - even if kicking him in the balls and launching him off on a huge ice cube may not have been the best definition of sanity.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Came her defensive voice, putting her hands on her hips hotly and staring daggers at him. Her gray eyes shone brightly in the moonlight, making her look positively alluring.

Alejandro flipped the flat stone in his palm, thumbing it for a few moments while he mustered an equally defensive response. "Skipping rocks, it would seem Duncan and Scott are not the most worthy roommates."

Heather dismissed his comment and set forward to getting in his face to level out some intimidation here, jabbing a poorly filed fingernail into muscle of his chest. "I knew you were faking it! I knew it! And you made me feel guilty this afternoon too for it! Ugh! God, why do I even trust you?"

He wrapped his fingers around her wrist, slowly pulling the hand off his chest and smirking. "Heather, it's simply strategic."

Heather scowled. "That's what everything with you is, Alejandro. Purely strategic." She mimicked bitterly, making a face.

"That is far from true, chica." He smiled lightly, something so light, looking out of place on a face that was usually full of arrogance. "There are a few things I could name that are not strategic." He arched a single eyebrow, hinting.

She scoffed and smacked his chest in scrutiny, yanking her wrist out of his grip and effectively crossing her arms once they were freed. "Don't get off subject. You lied to me! ME! Out of all people, you shouldn't have lied to me about your stupid legs." Her eyes narrowed. "And if you really wanted to keep up this charade, you wouldn't be so stupid as to let people just walk out and see you standing here like your legs weren't **just asleep**."

"I am afraid that is one of the mistakes I've made." He grimaced, sighing heavily and looking to the ground, shaking his head once. "But it was only you. For that, I suppose I can be thankful." a playful smirk on his lips.

"You better be." She countered with attitude, rolling her eyes and pointing a finger down to his ankle. The crustacean early had certainly taken a large clomp out of his ankle. "What about that stupid crab on the beach earlier? Your Achilles must be throbbing." Heather said with a smirk of her own.

Alejandro grimaced and bent down to rub ruefully at the wound. "That would be nothing less than accurate, I'm afraid. It took a bit of will power for me to allow myself to stay composed. I was lucky I was even able to let one scream lose in the whole I was digging once Jo was not looking my way."

Her expression changed. "Did you put anything on it? I don't want it to get infected." The smug look Alejandro gave her made her blush and quickly reword. "For the team stupid. You'll be even more a liability if we have to send you to the stupid infirmary to get your ankle wrapped up."

"I am aware of that, though I appreciate your looking out for me, Heather. It was a sweet sentiment." He smiled and while she scoffed and looked away, out of her peripheral view she could see the adoration in his eyes. Something she'd never thought she'd witness on his face.

And while she watched him fixate his stare on the vast amount of water around them, she saw the way he switched his footing almost as if it was painful. Her eyebrows quirked questionably, but seeing as his attention was not specifically on that, she felt as if she should believe him.

Even if just a few minutes ago she'd been insisting she shouldn't bother trusting him. But yet something about him continually made her want to.

"What's wrong with your legs?" Heather demanded, giving him a stern look as he looked at her with a confused expression, but despite the mystified look - she could see beneath it - in those green eyes that there was something wrong.

"Mi amor, I am unaware what you are talking about. I believe you and I have both made it clear that it is all just an act and-"

"And nothing." Heather cut him off, narrowing her eyes. "I can obviously see you switching the pressure from leg to leg, the way your fingers curl into fists as you move them. It hurts, you doesn't it?" She asked, her tone going a bit softer.

The woman of Japanese descent could only imagine the excruciating pain and frustration he must have felt from being trapped in there for so long. He'd probably even developed a case of claustrophobia; that would hardly come as a surprise.

Alejandro exhaled, his chest contracting in vexation, knowing that in attempt to feign the pain and admit to it's feigning, he'd always let the walls come down from the hiding it as well. "It is true, I'm afraid. It has seem that being trapped in the robot body, I have developed a severe case of tendinitis in the backs of my knees and in the rings of muscle in my calves. It is a struggle to - walk for a long period of time. My endurance has slowed."

Heather frowned. "Tendinitis is treatable, when I used to do Track back in Middle School, I had Tendinitis and I took some Ibuprofen and called it a day. I was fine, you'll be fine." She scoffed. "Don't worry so much." Though it sounded hypocritical to say something that sounded so assuring when she could hardly convince herself that he was doing just fine.

"I am afraid that is not one of my options, mi amor." He ran his fingers through his hair. "But I will be fine. I have faced far worse pain than this." He smiled wryly, before retaining his focus back to her.

"It would have been better if you would have just texted me!"

"Oh, Dios mío!" He groaned. "I was in a robot body Heather, that was not a possibility!"

"Have you ever heard the term 'sneaking' Alejandro? You had my number!" She insisted.

He scrunched his eyebrows together and grunted. "I know Heather, I know. But think about it this way, I didn't HAVE my phone on me in the suit when I was placed in it! It most likely completely disintegrated once the lava was able to access it!" He glared.

She huffed. "Whatever, you're just making excuses."

Alejandro circled his arms around her waist, drawing her in despite the hesitant look on her face. He was aware that she was leery of allowing him to come in close proximity of her, after all of the tricks he'd played. "Heather," He said in attempt to prod her to look at him.

"What?" She finally managed to glance his way, hands resting on the still incredibly muscular planes of his chest.

"I know you don't trust me, but you're going to have to if you wish to not get her. Anything that I say during the game when we are among others is purely strategic and false. Especially if they are in any way related to you. My words are of no reflection on me, they are not true by any means." He informed her, slightly confusing her. Alejandro sighed. "That means if I were to say for example, that I hate you. That is a lie; you must know that by now. And if I were to compliment any other girl, you must also be aware that I-I - feel for no other girl but you, despite contrary belief."

"Uh-huh, so what about what you said to Gwen, huh? When were digging, I heard you say something to Gwen. Was that fake?" Even though Gwen had been one of the only girls Alejandro had not been able to play, Heather was still not willing to let it go. There was no way she was going to take a chance on this one.

Alejandro's eyes grew slightly wider. "You heard the conversation? Weren't you too busy **campaigning** against Jo?" He countered in attempt to change the subject, though she would have none of it.

"Are you seriously trying to change the subject? I'm not a Lindsay, I'm a Heather! Was it true or not?!" She demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I guarantee you it was not true, mi amor. I am merely trying to soothe her doubts, she is the last type of person we would want on our team, correct? Though there is nothing that we have all done that could have been any better than herself; it is strategy." He reminded once again, in nearly a desperate tone.

Heather narrowed her eyes, though she had listened to what he said, but she was calling a liar. He was **so** lying to her and trying to play her and every other girl [even on their own team] like he had back at World Tour.

But a small part of her - that same part of that kept trusting him was straining, crying out for the other part of her to just give in a believe him.

"Heather." He repeated her name again. "I'm not lying, my feelings have not changed since the volcano in Haw-"

"Look, Alejandro, can we not rehash everything?" She stared at him. "I want to win this game, that's what I want to do. I don't want to talk about every other season. This is a new season; new terms, if you don't play me - I won't play you." And oddly, she wasn't lying.

Usually she would, but this time she wasn't. She was willing to give him a chance, mostly because the side of her that kept screaming at her to believe him had won a bit and peeked enough.

Alejandro chuckled. "I am more than willing to oblige to that offer, Heather."

While he was distracted, Heather stole the stone out of his hand to examine it, earning a 'Hey!' from him. "That was not very nice." He chided playfully and scoffed, elbowing him lightly in the ribs.

"When have I ever been **nice**?" She countered with a smirk, before skipping the rock fluidly on the water, watching as it made three, no four skips until it sunk. "Bet you can't do that."

He merely smiled and reached down to the pile of stones next to his feet and sent a few of them skipping, six or seven times. She gaped at him, while he only smirked. "What do you bet I cannot do, chica?"

Heather scowled. "That was just a lucky try." And as she said those words, he skipped a few more with the same amount of skips. "Okay, okay! You made your point."

"I could show you," He offered, holding out a stone. She hesitated, but sighed.

"Fine, whatever, show me." He wrapped his arms around her, taking ahold of her wrist and curving it to a severe angle. Heather may had been paying attention if only the warmth of his body was not so distracting.

This was probably just part of his stupid **strategy**, but right now - she could enjoy it. Maybe.

Faintly, she could hear him giving her directions, moving her arm in a specific fashion, while she felt the muscles clench in his arm as he slashed her arm out, prying her fingers to release the stone as it skipped the same amount of times as his had.

Heather grinned. "I did it! I did it! I did it!" taking all of the credit for it proudly, despite his arms still being wrapped around her and restricting her movement.

Their eyes met and both of them swallowed, staring into each others' eyes. Alejandro's were an alluring emerald and Heather's a steely gray swirling with emotion. This was such a slow moment, much slower than what had taken place on the volcano.

Sweeter too. She took a whiff of the over-abundance of cologne he was wearing, it was probably some of that Axe that she despised; but she could smell a hint of musk beneath it and that was all him.

Soon, their noses were brushing and Heather inhaled sharply, his lips centimeters away as her eyes shied to look down at them.

"Heather," He whispered and made a move to lean in, but she yanked back in disdain.

"Oh look, better get some sleep for tomorrow's challenge! Not like Jo's snoring is going to get any better." She laughed nervously, darting off with her back facing him. "Hope your legs get better!" She called heartily, Alejandro watching her disappear back into the girl's side of the cabin, the door slamming shut in her wake.

The Spaniard sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets and returning his gaze to the water, feeling a twinge of pain.

Some things she was so oblivious too, some things - even she didn't know.

AN: Complete. Reviews are my life, don't kill me.

~Nat


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